The expressive role of intensity in music

Intensity refers to the "degree of force". What we often refer to as strength or weakness refers to strength. Below I will introduce to you the expressive role of dynamics in music. Welcome to refer to it!

Before talking about the expressive effect of strength, first of all, it is necessary for us to clarify two different concepts: strength is not volume! Although in many cases strength will cause the volume to increase , but the increase in volume does not depend on the increase in strength. The increase in volume mainly relies on vibration. If we adjust the volume knob of the speaker, it will cause a change in the volume. At this time, if we measure the paper cone of the speaker If you look at the maximum vibration, you will find that as the volume increases, the maximum vibration area of ??the paper cone is also increasing; vice versa.

Let’s do another experiment. Hit the tuning fork for tuning. It will emit a sound, but the volume is not loud. At this time, if you press the bottom of the tuning fork against the table, it will Find that its volume has increased, but you have not changed the intensity of the tapping!

The intensity is determined by the amplitude. Different amplitudes determine the intensity, that is, the strength of the sound. But it should be noted that strong and weak sounds must be compared with more than two sounds to know the strength relationship between them. A single sound is neither strong nor weak.

In music, intensity is an important means of musical expression. Strength is reflected in the following aspects in music:

1. The strength in the beat.

That is the basic strength and weakness law of each beat. When we play and sing, we must follow the strength and weakness law of the beat and cannot change it at will. Just imagine if the two-beat music is sung into a three-beat rhythm, it will cause confusion. Please refer to the relevant chapters.

2. The intensity in the rhythm.

That is, the different intensity patterns produced by the rhythm types in each beat (or every two or three beats). Such as two notes per beat, three notes per beat, dotted rhythm, syncopated rhythm, triplet...etc. Please refer to the relevant chapters.

3. The intensity implicit in the melody.

Generally speaking, an upward pitch (upward) will produce passionate and elevated emotions, followed by a gradual change in intensity; a downward (downward) pitch will produce low, negative emotions, followed by a gradual change in intensity. This brings about a gradual change in intensity. We must understand the characteristics of this melody progression and follow this pattern in music performance and singing, so that we can have a good musical expression.

The phrases in the melody also imply changes in intensity. Generally speaking, the commonly used form of intensity changes in phrases is to first crescendo and then decrescendo, forming an olive shape. But there are also those that are strong first and then weak, first weak and then strong, first decrescendo and then crescendo... These changes are generally consistent with the rhythm and beat structure of the phrase. Therefore, before playing or singing, you must carefully analyze the structure of the score and find out the implicit dynamics rules.

The phrases in the melody also imply changes in intensity. Generally speaking, the commonly used form of intensity changes in phrases is to first crescendo and then decrescendo, forming an olive shape. But there are also those that are strong first and then weak, first weak and then strong, first decrescendo and then crescendo... These changes are generally consistent with the rhythm and beat structure of the phrase. Therefore, before playing or singing, you must carefully analyze the structure of the score and find out the implicit dynamics rules.

4. The intensity implicit in the lyrics.

This is limited to songs. Just like people have key words when they speak, there are also key words that need to be emphasized in lyrics. They are usually content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.), and they must be emphasized. , it is necessary to emphasize the tone during singing. As function words (particles, modal particles, etc.) occupy a secondary position in the sentence, do not use too much force, but deliberately weaken them.

In short, intensity is an indispensable and important aspect in expressing music. As long as you grasp the changing rules of intensity, you can express music well and create an accurate musical image.

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